Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, is thought to have been a pedophile. A photographic collection of naked young girls was found in his home, some of them being girls he was thought to have based characters on within his stories – such as Alice Liddel, who featured heavily in his photographs and was the inspiration for his character Alice. Although no solid evidence exists to prove that Carroll ever abused young girls, the photo collection certainly adds a more sinister light to this children’s classic, doesn’t it?...

10Louis Vivet One of the first recorded cases of multiple personalities belonged to Frenchman Louis Vivet. Born to a prostitute on February 12, 1863, Vivet was neglected as a child. By the time he was eight, he had turned to crime. He was arrested and lived in a house of treatment into his late teens. When he was 17 years old, he worked in a vineyard, and a viper wrapped itself around his left arm....

In 797 AD, Harun al-Rashid, the caliph of Baghdad, presented Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans, a clock that had a mechanical bird inside to pop out and chirp on the hour. He also gave him an Asian Elephant. While one has to assume that Charlemagne was enchanted with the cuckoo clock (this being well over a thousand years before one could pick up such delightful items at Pier One), the pachyderm obviously made quite an impression on him....

They went on to achieve great things, whether that meant temporarily cross-dressing, adopting an alias, or impersonating a man for a long period of time until they reached their goals. This was often at great risk, too. Turns out it’s not such a man’s world after all. 10 Rena ‘Rusty’ Kanokogi In 1959, Rusty Kanokogi entered the YMCA Judo Championship in Utica, New York. She cut her hair short, taped down her chest, and went on to win her fight....

10 Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple We’ve already discussed Hatshepsut, one of the more interesting characters in Egyptian history. She’s the Egyptian queen who promoted herself to pharaoh because Thutmose III, her stepson and heir to the throne, was too young to assume the role. She also left behind a legacy—her mortuary temple. Located at Deir el-Bahri, the temple is called “Djeser-djeseru,” which means “the holy of holies.” It stands proud to this day, but given the disagreements with Hatshepsut’s method of appointing a new pharaoh, both Thutmose III and Akhenaten went through the temple after her death and made some adjustments to the scenery....

That’s the popular idea, anyway. In reality, there’s much more to the samurai . . . 10 Female “Samurai” While “samurai” is a strictly masculine term, the Japanese bushi class (the social class samurai came from) did feature women who received similar training in martial arts and strategy. These women were called “Onna-Bugeisha,” and they were known to participate in combat along with their male counterparts. Their weapon of choice was usually the naginata, a spear with a curved, sword-like blade that was versatile, yet relatively light....

Never won: Major US title Greg Norman is regarded as one of the most talented, but also one of the unluckiest golfers in history. He was known for his unique style of play, and having one of the best swings in the game. He is generally thought of as the greatest driver of the ball, bar Jack Nicklaus. He won the British open twice, but never won any of the three US majors....

This wasn’t always the case. Forensic scientists had to work hard to prove the value of their efforts to police departments and the public at large. But it’s fair to say that these murders might still be unsolved today without their undertakings. 10 Mary BlandyToxicology In 1751 in Henley-on-Thames, Mary Blandy wanted to marry a Scottish officer named William Henry Cranstoun. The only problem was that the captain had a wife and child back in Scotland whom he had disavowed....

10Brandi Summers And Tiffani Wise In 1977, Beverly Wise lived in San Bernadino, California, with her husband, Claude, and their three children: five-year-old Brandi, two-year-old Tiffani, and eight-month-old Stacy. Claude was the father of Tiffani and Stacy, but Brandi’s father was Beverly’s ex-husband, Roy Summers. Years earlier, the couple had divorced after an abusive marriage. Throughout his life, Roy was married seven times and faced numerous charges of violent behavior from his spouses....

10 Native American Artworks Shot Up By Paintball Guns Native American monuments and rock art dot the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and are considered sacred by the local Native American tribes as their birthplace. They’re even registered in the US National Register of Historic Places. In 2010, park rangers were summoned after someone reported people firing paintball guns in the area. They found paint splattered across the rock art, then talked to and ultimately arrested a 20-year-old man who had been shooting up the monuments....

Just as powerful as our urge to face challenges, we humans also have the drive to record what we’ve seen. During our earlier ages of exploration, such as the Polynesian exploration of the Pacific or the age of European sailing ships, we recorded our discoveries through stories or the written word or paintings. But the exploration of space has been unique. During our entire venture into the heavens, we have had access to photography....

10 Victoria Cross Metal False Fact: Every Victoria Cross Medal is Made from the Bronze Captured Russian Cannons It is an incredible honour for any British serviceman to be awarded the VC, equivalent to the US Medal of Honour, only given to the most daring, self-sacrificing soldiers. From men who conducted incredible solo raids, capturing and eliminating many enemies to amazing acts of selfless rescue, many times involving taking heavy enemy fire in order to save a fallen comrade....

Was the Oakland County Child Killer a Vietnam War veteran angry at the rich? Was he a well-known local pedophile? Was he another infamous serial killer who preyed on the children and young men of Chicago? Or was the Oakland County Child Killer a known rapist who allegedly committed suicide a year after his last crime? 10 The Murder of Mark Stebbins Twelve-year-old Mark Stebbins would become the first official victim of the Oakland County Child Killer....

SEE ALSO: 10 Natural Disasters That Created A More Beautiful World Natural disasters of all kinds have claimed countless human lives throughout history. But for every volcanic wasteland, shattered city, and razed coastline, there are survivors. Whether through luck, the aid of others, skill, or a combination thereof, people walk away from natural events that could have easily taken their lives, as is the case for those below. 10 Struck By A Lava Bomb May 2018 saw the Puna district of Hawaii’s Big Island inundated with lava flows from the opening of numerous fissures....

Related On Listverse: 10 Fascinating Histories of Iconic Products 10Fed Ex The Founder and CEO of Fed Ex once saved the company with nothing but luck. Frederick Smith created the company with a combination of loans, inheritance money and funding. With the money, he purchased eight planes with which he shipped packages across the United States. No other business was operating this way at the time. Instead, their method of transportation was mostly trucks....

10The POW Who Forgave His Torturer It would have been fairly easy for Eric Lomax to hate Takashi Nagase forever. The British officer had been captured in Singapore in 1942 during the Second World War and then sent to work on the infamous Burma-Siam Railway. During his time as a POW, Lomax suffered under the brutality of his Japanese captors, especially when they caught him with a makeshift radio and map....

Some of these successful ruses were even unveiled before April Fools’ Day to make them look more truthful. Other pranks weren’t so good and reeked of April foolery from afar. Here are ten interesting April Fools’ Day pranks we saw this year. 10 Tinder Height Verification April Fools’ Day jokes issued before April 1 are often more difficult to detect, so it’s little wonder that so many people fell for Tinder’s height verification hoax....

Cuba (fondly called El Cocodrilo by the natives) and many other countries are known for having a lot of natural resources, that are exported throughout the world. Resources like bauxite, oil, iron ore, asphalt and nickel are some of the most common. Bananas, cocoa and coffee industry are also popular sources of income in these islands (like Jamaica), and in most smaller islands that do not boast natural resources, these are the major contributors to their economy, apart from tourism....

10 Pukapuka Pukapuka is the most remote member of the Cook Islands, and it is very small, no more than about 3 square kilometers (1 mi2) of land. There is nonetheless a distinct language that has developed there, known as Pukapukan. It is currently given its own branch inside the Polynesian family of Austronesian languages, and its relationship to other languages is unclear. Pukapukan shares some properties in common with other languages of the Cook Islands, but also has properties in common with the languages spoken on islands to the east like Samoan and Tuvalu....

But that’s only one piece of the puzzle. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, summed up the other half when she said, “The thing I’ll remember most about the flight is that it was fun. In fact, I’m sure it was the most fun that I’ll ever have in my life.” Space exploration is equal parts danger and excitement, sprinkled with humor. The following are five cases of the harrowing nature of space flight and five cases of its goofiness....